I think this, "Taste the Blood of Dracula," is easily the best of Hammer's Dracula sequels. Unlike the other mere bosoms-and-blood affairs, it gets at something of Bram Stoker's novel: Dracula's invasion as a self-inflicted undermining of the hypocrisy of English society. And, that message had some resonance with Hammer's target audience of Vietnam-War-era youth. It, too, also has plenty of bosoms and blood.
Dracula is revived by three hypocritical men. They pretend to be socially-respectable husbands and fathers, but they also visit the brothel--in a sequence containing the first glimpses of nudity in Hammer's Dracula series and among the earliest in general among Dracula movies. When they bore of such titillation, they engage Lord Courtley, who for whatever reasons is a kept man due to the generosity of the prostitutes, to procure for them more thrilling delights. Courtley offers them Satanism in the form of a ceremony where they drink a cocktail of Dracula's powdered blood liquified by Courtley donating some of his own, fresh plasma. The hypocrites refuse, however, and, instead, they demand Courtley drink some. He does and begins gagging, at which point the other men beat him to death! Somehow, this resurrects Dracula and, in another flimsy revenge plot (like in "Dracula has Risen from the Grave" (1968)), he seeks to compel the children of the hypocrites to kill their fathers... because, apparently, Dracula cared about Courtley, his servant, or, more likely, he's just upset that someone other than himself killed him. Obviously, as evidenced by his killing Lucy and turning his back on Alice, he doesn't seem to care about his minions.
Stoker's book, too, was about Dracula invading a sexually-repressed English society and, in effect, exposing their hypocrisy by exchanging bodily fluids with them and turning them into wanton vampires. In "Taste the Blood of Dracula," the Count does this for the benefit of the youth. Dracula is like the Id monster from "Forbidden Planet" (1956), fulfilling the wishes of the rebellious children by allowing them to murder their repressive parents. Alice's father won't let her go to a party with Paul; OK, then, Alice will cut daddy's head open with a shovel. Once the hypocrites are dispensed with, save the inspector who'll steal a drink on the clock in private but not inebriate himself so publicly when offered the liquor (although maybe vampire Jeremey will still be around to bite him), Dracula is dispensed with. In the face of true puppy love, he is killed by Paul's decorating of Dracula's lair as a church and, presumably, setting the stage for Paul and Alice's red wedding.
So, I disagree with those who say Dracula is a mere afterthought in this outing; rather, he's finally integral to a decent story in the Hammer series. Plus, Christopher Lee's Count is a supporting monster in every one of Hammer's Dracula movies. The rest of the cast is probably the best of any of their Dracula films, too. The reading of Jonathan Secker's letter, as Paul prepares himself like a young Van Helsing for battle, is genuinely exciting. And, it's about time Hammer moved the series to England instead of some vague continental-European place populated by Brits. Probably because they didn't have to hide as much, the art direction seems better and more open as a result.
(Mirror Note: Nothing to speak of--Lucy's father is seen through the mirror a couple times in their home's entryway.)
Dracula is revived by three hypocritical men. They pretend to be socially-respectable husbands and fathers, but they also visit the brothel--in a sequence containing the first glimpses of nudity in Hammer's Dracula series and among the earliest in general among Dracula movies. When they bore of such titillation, they engage Lord Courtley, who for whatever reasons is a kept man due to the generosity of the prostitutes, to procure for them more thrilling delights. Courtley offers them Satanism in the form of a ceremony where they drink a cocktail of Dracula's powdered blood liquified by Courtley donating some of his own, fresh plasma. The hypocrites refuse, however, and, instead, they demand Courtley drink some. He does and begins gagging, at which point the other men beat him to death! Somehow, this resurrects Dracula and, in another flimsy revenge plot (like in "Dracula has Risen from the Grave" (1968)), he seeks to compel the children of the hypocrites to kill their fathers... because, apparently, Dracula cared about Courtley, his servant, or, more likely, he's just upset that someone other than himself killed him. Obviously, as evidenced by his killing Lucy and turning his back on Alice, he doesn't seem to care about his minions.
Stoker's book, too, was about Dracula invading a sexually-repressed English society and, in effect, exposing their hypocrisy by exchanging bodily fluids with them and turning them into wanton vampires. In "Taste the Blood of Dracula," the Count does this for the benefit of the youth. Dracula is like the Id monster from "Forbidden Planet" (1956), fulfilling the wishes of the rebellious children by allowing them to murder their repressive parents. Alice's father won't let her go to a party with Paul; OK, then, Alice will cut daddy's head open with a shovel. Once the hypocrites are dispensed with, save the inspector who'll steal a drink on the clock in private but not inebriate himself so publicly when offered the liquor (although maybe vampire Jeremey will still be around to bite him), Dracula is dispensed with. In the face of true puppy love, he is killed by Paul's decorating of Dracula's lair as a church and, presumably, setting the stage for Paul and Alice's red wedding.
So, I disagree with those who say Dracula is a mere afterthought in this outing; rather, he's finally integral to a decent story in the Hammer series. Plus, Christopher Lee's Count is a supporting monster in every one of Hammer's Dracula movies. The rest of the cast is probably the best of any of their Dracula films, too. The reading of Jonathan Secker's letter, as Paul prepares himself like a young Van Helsing for battle, is genuinely exciting. And, it's about time Hammer moved the series to England instead of some vague continental-European place populated by Brits. Probably because they didn't have to hide as much, the art direction seems better and more open as a result.
(Mirror Note: Nothing to speak of--Lucy's father is seen through the mirror a couple times in their home's entryway.)